Every year, millions of men and women try to lose weight, and unfortunately, a lot of them aren’t very successful. Even those who do lose weight find it very difficult – and sometimes impossible – to maintain their initial loss, simple because it’s so easy to fall back into “bad habits.”
With so many DIY diet plans out there, it seems like finding one that’s a “good fit” should be pretty simple. But the fact is, when it comes to diet and exercise plans, there’s a huge difference between quantity and quality. If you’ve found yourself trying to lose weight – and failing – it might be time to consider a professional weight management program. Here’s why.
Why DIY Diets Fail
The problem is, most DIY diet and fitness plans are doomed right from the start, even before you start counting calories, attending meetings or ordering meals. That’s because these programs are built on very general concepts of what it takes to lose weight – and for sure, these concepts can work to shed some pounds initially. But when it comes to maintaining weight loss over a long period of time, most of these plans fail miserably – primarily for two reasons:
First, because of their one-size-fits-all approach to weight loss, DIY diets aren’t designed to take into account the underlying cause of your weight gain. Sure, you gain a lot of weight by not eating properly – but losing weight (and keeping it off) is about more than simply cutting calories. It’s also about optimizing nutrition and addressing underlying issues like hormonal fluctuations and nutritional deficiencies that can contribute to weight gain or make it hard to keep weight off. Likewise, lifestyle factors and habits can affect your ability to maintain a healthy weight, and DIY diets aren’t built to identify and correct those problems either.
The second major reason why DIY diets fail is because they rely on significantly altered patterns of eating that can be very difficult to maintain for a long period of time. It’s hard to go out to eat or just relax and enjoy a meal when you need to count calories or points, or when your meals must be based on prepackaged components. Yes, meal plans can work initially, but you also need to learn the causes of your weight gain and how to manage your weight and your health “in the real world” once the weight loss phase is complete.
Why Professional Weight Management Succeeds
Professional weight management programs success mainly because they do what DIY diets fail to do: They help you learn healthier habits, both in the way you eat and in the way you manage underlying causes of weight problems. Each weight loss program begins with a thorough evaluation of your health to identify nutritional deficiencies and chronic but subtle underlying issues that can make it difficult to lose weight and to keep it off. This medical evaluation is essential to the success of any weight management program, and it’s why professional weight management is often referred to as medical weight loss.
In professional weight management, each plan is custom designed for the individual patient, taking not only medical issues into account, but also lifestyle and personal habits to help guarantee success right from the start. Plus, with professional weight management, you’ll have regular evaluations and “check-ins” to make sure you stay on track and to ensure your plan changes with your needs so you stay motivated – and healthy.
Learn more about professional weight loss programs.
At Matthews Internal Medicine, we help patients in and around Matthews, NC, reach their weight-loss goals and maintain them so they can feel more confident and lead healthier, happier lives. To learn more about the programs we offer, call Matthews Internal Medicine at 704-246-3936 or use our online form to schedule a consultation today.